Along with the growing cloud-computing hype is growing push back along the lines that cloud-computing is merely a new way for vendors to pitch the same offerings wrapped up in the latest buzzword. Shally Steckerl, a recruiting strategist and consultant, delivers a blistering post along these lines on ERE.net.

It is easy to sympathize with Shalley and other users of HR services who see new buzzwords advance in vendor marketing campaigns often at a pace more rapid than functional improvements or efficiencies evident in the vendor offerings themselves. However, vendor marketing hype aside, cloud computing is (or should be), more than a re-branding of existing SAAS or ASP offerings.

As I mentioned in my previously post, there isn't unanimity about what cloud computing is. However, most associate the phrase with an approach in which IT or business capabilities are accessed as services through publicly available (or readily available) Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). While HR abounds with SAAS providers, there aren't many that arguably fit the cloud model. Most HR service providers today simply don't have the well-defined APIs. There are companies that likely have a head start such as ADP Employease and Workday (links to API pages). However, contrary to what Shalley says in his rant and vendor hype aside, the cloud model is quite new and is distinct from mere SAAS and ASP offerings.